Whyte to join Arizona's best

Image by NBAE/Getty Images

Image by NBAE/Getty Images

Whyte to join Arizona's best

By Kayla Anderson. CREATED Jan 9, 2014

TUCSON (Arizona Athletics)- Former Arizona guard Davellyn Whyte will bring her career to a full circle when she is inducted into Arizona's Ring of Honor on Sunday before Arizona women's basketball takes on USC at 2 p.m. at McKale Center.

Arizona's Ring of Honor is illustrated by the banners hanging in McKale Center. To be inducted, former Arizona athletes must have distinguished themselves in the following ways:

For the women's basketball program, Whyte's induction is a milestone. She will become the fourth player in history to receive this honor and the first since 2005. She will join Adia Barnes (1995-98), Shawntinice Polk (2001-05) and Dee Dee Wheeler (2002-05) in the rafters.

"Being inducted into the Ring of Honor is a real honor, it means so much," Whyte said. "There are only three other women's basketball players and just to be able to be added into Arizona history and make my mark on Arizona Athletics is a significant achievement for me.

But as much as Whyte appreciates her time as a Wildcat, Head Coach Niya Butts and the Arizona women's basketball program appreciate her equally.

"Having Davellyn as a player meant a lot to our program," Butts said. "In her time here, she accomplished a lot of things on the court and she worked really hard to get where she is today. I couldn't be happier for her that she is going to receive this recognition and to be inducted into the Arizona Ring of Honor."

Whyte's induction is well-deserved. In her four years, she scored 2,059 points, the second-highest point total ever, just 178 shy of Adia Barnes' 2,237 set from 1995-1998. Only Barnes and Whyte have scored 2,000 points or more in Arizona women's basketball history.

She scored in double figures in 100 games out of the 126 she played. She scored 20 or more points in 35 of those games, 30 or more in five.

In addition to prolific scoring, Whyte finished her career with 266 steals, second-most all time (Dee-Dee Wheeler had 304 from 2002-05), fourth all-time in free throws made (671), eighth-most all-time assists (431) and ninth in rebounding average at 5.5 rpg.

She started and played in every game in her career, started more games (126) and played more minutes (4,243) than any player in Arizona women's basketball history.

She had the first and only triple-double in Arizona women's basketball history, making Sportcenter's Top 10.

She was a four-time All-Pac-12 selection in the coaches poll and three-time All-Pac-12 selection with the media.

"To have Davellyn's name hanging in our arena means a lot to our program," Butts said. "It says a lot that she made the decision to come to Arizona, because she is an Arizona kid and grew up in the state. We want the best kids that Arizona has to offer and she has made us proud."

Whyte was rewarded for her success and hard work when she was selected as the 16th draft pick by the San Antonio Silver Stars in the WNBA last April-the highest pick ever for a Wildcat.

In her rookie season, Whyte played in 29 games, earning four starts and averaging 14.9 minutes per game. She averaged 4.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists before injuring her achilles and being forced to sit out for the last part of the season.

"Arizona prepared me quite a bit for the next level," Whyte said. "This last summer when I was playing in the WNBA, I fit in. There were things that I didn't know and things that I had to learn, but my coaches and teammates really pushed and helped me be able to make that transition."

In looking toward the future, Whyte will get back on the floor. She will try out for the Silver Stars again in March as all WNBA players will have to retry out for a spot on a team.

"The WNBA is somewhere that I want to be for now," Whyte said. "I want to make my mark in the WNBA. I know that will take time, but I'm ready to put in the work and Coach Butts really talks about hard work, perseverance and listening to what older players and coaches have to say. I think that has really helped me a lot-learning from the best, watching them, letting them help me and teaching me things along the way. I'm ready for whatever life and basketball throw at me."

Regardless of what the future holds, Whyte will always have the U of A to come back to and beginning Sunday, she will have etched her name in Arizona Athletics history forever.

Whyte's induction will begin about 15 minutes prior to tip-off against USC on Sunday, Jan. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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